Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Woooooo~"

The desolate sound of horns broke the tranquility of the morning.

The camps of the White Lotus rebels began to gather on a large scale. Thousands of strong men were driven out of their respective camps by the White Lotus rebel soldiers armed with swords and guns, and walked towards the Ming army camp in the east of Taihu Lake. They would There the initial gathering takes place.

Some of them held farm tools, hoes and other items in their hands, while others had empty hands. Some were completely numb, and some were still wailing.

"This is how to do ah!"

"These beasts are going to kill us!"

"Heaven will kill me!"

These strong men are still valuable and can serve as human shields to withstand the powerful match-rope guns of the Ming army. At this moment, they are still considered "lucky".

Because compared to the possibility that they would lose their lives later, what happened next was particularly unacceptable.

Some women and children who had lost their husbands, fathers, and sons were frantically trying to bring them back, while others were kneeling on the ground holding the thighs of the rebel soldiers and begging.

"I only have one son in my family. Please let him go!"

"Please, as long as you spare him, I can do anything you want!"

"I am willing to marry you as my concubine."

However, such begging for mercy is of no use.

"Go away!" A rebel soldier drew his saber and cut off the woman's hand that was holding his pants.

The blood was dripping, but she still gritted her teeth and didn't let go.

"You" the rebel soldiers looked livid when they saw this scene.

The woman cried, "My husband is dead. If my son dies too, what's the point of living in this world?"

The rebel soldier was so angry that he laughed and said: "Okay, in that case, I will grant you my wish!"

After that, he pulled out the long knife from his waist and slashed forward.

Blood splattered everywhere, and a woman's scream cut through the silence of the morning mist.

"Mother, mother," the six-year-old girl cried and wanted to rush to her mother, but was kicked away by the rebel soldier in front of her like a ball. Blood spurted out of her mouth and she fell to the ground. Vomiting out a few bloody visceral fragments again.

But the passing rebels seemed to be used to it, and just looked at the corpse lying at their feet indifferently.

A hall leader rode by on horseback, turned around, and told the others: "Continue on your way and go to the predetermined location to assemble in formation."

All this seems to be a tacit understanding.

Whenever they encountered someone who blocked them from leaving, these rebels would not hesitate to wave their butcher knives and kill these people to death!

Soon, there was no one else here except the lost women and children.

However, in the eyes of the White Lotus Sect rebels, these women and children have lost any use value and will only waste food rations. Once they try to escape, they will be mercilessly killed.

Desperation spreads among the crowd, and there are always people who are unwilling to wait for death.

The women and children who still had the strength cried and shouted, and kept running towards the front, but they were quickly shot by the rebel soldiers with their bows and arrows, turning them into hedgehogs and falling in a pool of blood.

The women and children who were driven out of the crude camp turned pale with fear when they saw such a scene. They slumped on the ground and kept wailing. Some even closed their eyes in pain.

The cruelty of the White Lotus Sect rebels has exceeded the limit of their imagination. They can't even understand why it has become like this, even though everything was fine before!

Didn’t the White Lotus Sect say that if they converted to the Inanimate Old Mother, they would have food to eat?

However, this was far from over. After all the strong men were driven away from the camp, the rebel soldiers picked up butcher knives and killed the young children who had been selected as the sacrifices for the White Lotus Sect ceremony. go.

At that moment, blood splattered, countless screams resounded through the sky, and the entire camp was filled with grief, despair and shrill cries...

What a cruel scene it was!

In front of the leader of the White Lotus Sect, Bai Yu, these White Lotus Sect rebels demonstrated their ruthless and cruel methods. They beheaded the children who had not yet grown up, and piled their heads into a hill-like structure in Beijing. Some people even had their eyes gouged out, leaving only two empty eye sockets.

These believers are simply scarier than the devil, so creepy!

Next to Bai Tianyu, several tall and strong guards wearing black armor and holding spears stood with fierce looks. Various prayer items were placed around them.

The White Lotus Sect has been able to revive from the ashes in just four or five years, and naturally there is no shortage of prayers that make believers pious.

What Bai Tianyu is best at is this aspect.

Tian Tianyu was wearing a wide robe and long sleeves, with a haggard face, a solemn look, and extremely cold eyes, but his lips kept moving slightly, as if he was reciting something.

Around him, dense crowds of believers were kneeling on the ground, showing devout worship.

Then, Tian Tianyu slowly raised his right palm, and a white lotus actually slowly "grew" out of his big sleeve. Of course, this was a fake prop, but with the distance and the cover of his robe, But it's enough to fool everyone.

Anyway, no one can come on stage to expose this kind of long-range trick.

The white lotus exudes a faint and holy light in the early morning light. Looking from a distance, the leader holding the white lotus in his hand looks like a real god and Buddha descending.

The leader of the White Lotus Sect held up the ball of white lotus with one hand and chanted loudly:

"The mud comes from the beginning of chaos, and the white lotus appears and brings prosperity!"

The believers in front of him also chanted in unison.

".The white lotus appears and brings prosperity to the world!"

The early morning light sprinkled across the sky, reflecting on the faces of every White Lotus cultist.

Their expressions were solemn and solemn, as if everything was so sacred.

The atmosphere at this time was mobilized to the extreme. Everyone was immersed in it and even forgot to breathe.

And this is what Tianyu wants to achieve.

It has been many years since he publicly conducted such a large-scale prayer activity.

"Old Mother Wusheng, I, Bai Tianyu, have been a believer for many years. Today, I hope you can help me, the White Lotus Sect, regain its glory, defeat the Ming army, and become the only master of the land south of the Yangtze River."

Tian Tianyu looked at the white lotus in his hand and muttered silently.

However, no one noticed that under the cover of morning mist, the hot air balloon cluster used by the Ming army to scout the battlefield had begun to fly to the camp of the White Lotus Sect.

"What a bunch of damn beasts!"

On the hot air balloon of the Ming army, there were three figures standing. The man in the lead was about 25 or 25 years old, wearing a special set of cold-proof clothes. He was none other than the test pilot Huo Fei who had survived the disaster!

Now he is the commander of this three-person team of hot air balloons, and beside him, the other two people are also dressed in the same way. These two are new pilots, one is responsible for drawing in the air, and the other is responsible for controlling the hot air balloon.

After the national counselor Jiang Xinghuo successfully prayed for rain, the faces of the courtiers who had previously opposed were swollen. Emperor Yongle Longyan was so pleased that he approved the establishment of a separate hot-air balloon unit, which was placed under the direct jurisdiction of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion and was named "Flying Eagle Guard" "The future plan is to move it to the three major camps of Beijing Camp.

However, although it is called a guard, the staff is far from the full complement of more than 5,000 people. It is just a large shelf with an actual establishment of only one hundred households. This includes ground staff. .

And Huo Fei, who fell directly from the sky and appeared in front of Emperor Yongle and Duke Rong, was the test pilot who led the flight during the rain praying operation. Now that he had personally received the emperor's promise of promotion, he naturally became the number one of the Flying Eagle Guard. A hundred officials.

A Baihu officer, or a Baihu officer in this army destined to have a bright future, is naturally much better than the original craftsman in the War and War Bureau. Huo Fei's situation is quite enviable. When he returned home, he was taken over by someone he didn't expect. How could he look down upon his relatives and neighbors and praised him for a long time.

Back to the present, Huo Fei, as an official of hundreds of households, naturally flies to the forefront.

They, the Ming army pilots who controlled the hot air balloons in the Eagle Guard, originally rose into the air to overlook the battlefield to monitor the traces of the White Lotus rebels, but they did not expect that they would see this cruel scene at this time.

Countless heads were piled together and became tools for the White Lotus Sect to pray. Further away, there was massacre going on in the camp.

Only a few of these pilots were soldiers, and most of them were craftsmen who had transferred jobs. They were ordinary people. They would naturally be angry when they saw the people on the ground being slaughtered.

Naturally, they had no mercy or mercy towards the rebellious White Lotus rebels.

"Huo Baihu, what do you think we should do?"

A short and fat pilot asked with a frown. He looked at the strong men who were forced to line up in the wilderness.

Their homes have been destroyed, their wives separated, their daughters separated, and their families displaced.

Behind them, the culprit who caused all this was brutally torturing the remains of their children.

They hate, hate these demons, but they have no ability to resist, and they can't even control their own destiny.

The only people they can rely on now, who can help them get justice, are probably the Ming Army pilots above their heads!

Huo Fei pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "I will avenge these people no matter the cost!"

Hearing this, the two Eagle Guard pilots looked at each other. They knew Huo Fei's character, and he would definitely do what he set his sights on.

"But we don't carry any weapons, not even crossbows." A pilot said helplessly.

The task of these hot-air balloon pilots is to overlook the battlefield from a high position. The pilots who draw are usually also able to do calculations and determine their current position; those who control the hot-air balloon are responsible for adding whale oil to the heating device, as well as simple control of direction and elevation; the team commander Responsible for commanding operations and raising flags for the Ming army on the ground.

They do not have any ground attack mission.

Therefore, apart from basic flight, surveying and semaphore, these hot air balloon pilots know almost nothing else. They are even not very good at basic archery and swordsmanship as soldiers - mainly because they have not practiced these. .

Huo Fei was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He really had not considered the issue of weapons and equipment.

After all, this time we were on a reconnaissance mission. How could we have imagined that we would encounter such a difficult situation?

At this time, another pilot suddenly thought of something and hurriedly picked up the bag on his back, took out a few cans of whale oil and handed them to Huo Fei.

"You said you lit this on fire and threw it to the ground?"

"Not bad! Maybe it has the same effect as the fire oil cans thrown by the cannon?"

Of course, these craftsman-transferred pilots have come into contact with artillery carts (the current version of the Ming Army is a counterweight trebuchet). Artillery carts usually fire three types of weapons: solid stone bullets, splash mud bombs, and fire oil cans.

Although there is a difference between a fire oil tank and a whale oil tank, at this moment, the difference does not seem to be big. Both can have the effect of igniting the enemy's camp.

The other pilot heard this and thought it made sense, so he nodded.

"Then let's use this first!"

Huo Fei thought for a few moments before speaking: "If you shoot a man, shoot the horse first, and if you capture the thief, capture the king first. I see that the dark place with people in the distance should be the place where they do activities such as offering flags, and maybe also There are some leaders of the White Lotus Sect, and as long as they can set fire around them, the White Lotus Sect will definitely panic."

The two pilots nodded silently after listening. They agreed with Huo Fei's proposal, which would not harm the people, but could also use the only "weapons" to maximize the destruction of the enemy's will.

"Um!"

Huo Fei signaled several times to the hot air balloon cluster behind him. After confirming that they all understood what he meant, he ordered the pilots controlling the hot air balloon to start guiding the hot air balloon cluster.

As a result, the Eagle Guard pilots adjusted their postures, and after Huo Fei gave the order, they began to descend slowly, following the wind and flying directly to the prayer place in the southwest corner where many people gathered. , that position is the target they want to blow up.

At the same time, a cluster of Ming army hot air balloons flying out of the mist followed the wind and were also exposed to the sight of the White Lotus Sect rebels.

Yesterday, these hot air balloons scattered a large number of announcement documents above their heads. The White Lotus rebels certainly knew what these hot air balloons were for.

In the camp where the prayer ceremony was held, a piercing scream suddenly sounded: "The Kongming Lantern of the Ming Army!"

Immediately afterwards, the camp suddenly became a mess.

And those believers who were originally holding a grand prayer looked around in panic, how could they care about etiquette and dignity?

Soon, before the Ming army's hot-air balloon swarm could fly overhead, the entire camp became agitated, and the atmosphere was filled with chaos and panic.

Although they had seen it once, these ignorant believers inevitably panicked when the magic weapon that could fly came over them again.

The leader of the White Lotus Sect who was in charge of guarding ran to the altar and shouted loudly: "Master, please take shelter for now!"

After hearing this, Bai Tianyu, who was still immersed in his own world, finally looked up at the sky.

When the Ming army's hot air balloon came to deliver the announcement documents yesterday, he was resting in the big tent and did not see it with his own eyes.

According to Tian Tianyu, these flying things were just spreading leaflets, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

So, he slowly said: "Don't panic, Wu Sheng's mother is here."

——————

The pilots of the Ming Army's Eagle Guard certainly saw all the tragic scenes on the ground.

The people who were running around were chased and killed by the White Lotus rebels armed with swords and guns, and their heads were piled into a hill.

Full of anger, they wanted to drop the whale oil cans in their hands immediately, but since they had become soldiers, they had to suppress the anger in their hearts and wait for Huo Fei's order.

Huo Fei silently measured the wind speed and flight direction. It was getting closer, getting closer!

Almost every word came out from Huo Fei's clenched teeth.

"Five, four, three, two, one!"

"-throw!"

With the final countdown, their few "weapons" were smashed down by the ignited whale oil tank.

At this moment, Bai Tianyu's words had just left his mouth.

A series of tents were set alight, and raging flames suddenly exploded.

The entire camp turned red, and the air was filled with a strong and pungent smell of burning.

The followers of the White Lotus Sect who were still praying were suddenly frightened. They threw away all the items they were holding and ran around wildly. No matter how Bai Tianyu tried to calm them down, no one listened anymore.

Bai Tianyu's carefully arranged prayer before the battle was completely destroyed by the pilots of the Ming Army's Flying Eagle Guard.

Tian Tianyu watched helplessly as the burning items made violent crackling sounds in the air, and thick black smoke spread to all directions along with the scalding heat waves.

The rebels of the White Lotus Sect never thought that the enemy would use this method to deal with them. When they were caught off guard, more than ten rebels were immediately burned by the fire.

"There is an enemy attack!"

"Be on guard! Be on guard!"

"Someone is attacking us!"

When some White Lotus Sect leaders and helmsmen saw this, their expressions changed slightly and they shouted quickly.

"Swish swish——"

Immediately afterwards, arrows were shot out from the crossbow on the ground.

The White Lotus rebels quickly fought back, but the range of their crossbows was only one or two hundred steps away, and the Ming army's pilots were hiding in the air at a height equivalent to five or six hundred steps, so the threat from their crossbows was almost zero.

"Bang bang bang——"

The Ming army dropped as many extra whale oil cans as possible on its hot air balloon and smashed it into the formation of the White Lotus rebels.

"Boom!"

There was a huge explosion, but in the nearby camp, the gunpowder stored by the White Lotus Sect was ignited and exploded. Suddenly the entire camp was leveled, and the flames burned brightly, illuminating the area like daylight.

Tian Tianyu was so shaken by the huge sound that he became dizzy and became unsteady on his feet for a moment.

The surrounding senior officials of the White Lotus Sect hurriedly stepped forward to support him, and this weak performance also cast a shadow on the hearts of the believers who still insisted on participating in the prayers.

"I'm fine!"

Tian Tianyu vigorously shook off the hands holding him up. The older he was, the less he liked to expose his weakness in front of everyone.

However, the Ming army pilots above him would not tolerate him. Although the photo was taken of the White Lotus Sect's counterattack with bows and other weapons on the ground, they did not dare to get too close. There was really no accuracy in throwing whale oil tanks by hand while flying. However, there were still many pilots aiming at the only open space among the dense crowd.

"Bang!"

Someone got on top and threw a ballast stone down! The rocks roared down.

"Leader, be careful!"

The guard wearing black armor next to him pounced hard and threw Bai Tianyu to the ground. However, his legs were directly smashed by the boulder, and the bones came out of the flesh through the seams. The bloody scene made Tian Yu fall to the ground. People can't bear to look at it.

Bai Tianyu fell to the ground in disgrace, staring blankly at the Ming Army hot air balloon flying in the sky.

Documentary announcements and fire oil cans fell from the sky, artillery that could move at will, and fire cannons that could shoot sixty or seventy steps away.

Tian Tianyu suddenly felt that his opponent, the Ming Dynasty Imperial Master Jiang Xinghuo, seemed to be using something that he could not understand and compete with, repeatedly hammering his originally tough heart.

"Jiang Xinghuo, are there any other methods you haven't used yet?"

Tian Tianyu suddenly felt a flash of panic in his heart.

For the first time, the leader of the White Lotus Sect felt that he might not really have the chance to win against Jiang Xinghuo.

In his field of vision, a row of hot air balloons were flying rapidly, leaving behind all the smoke and flames caused by the explosion. Then different pilots above repeated the same steps.

Ignite the few whale oil cans in my hand, throw them to the ground, and blow up the White Lotus rebel camp to pieces!

Inadvertently, they completed the first aerial bombing in the history of mankind in this world!

And it’s still “pseudo-carpet bombing”!

"happy!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Avenge these tragic deaths of the people!"

"Smash these beasts to death!"

The pilots of the Ming Army's Eagle Guard roared excitedly. At this moment, they finally felt the pride of being warriors, something they had never enjoyed before.

These young people are crazy and seem to have forgotten everything.

Huo Fei still maintained his basic sanity. He looked at the flags of the commanders of each hot air balloon team behind him.

"Report! The enemy has dispersed and fled in all directions! Please give instructions!"

"Fly with the wind to the west of Taihu Lake to find a landing place!"

"yes!"

Amidst the waves of fire, part of the White Lotus rebel camp was completely reduced to ruins.

Then they walked away.

The White Lotus rebels could only watch them leave, but there was nothing they could do.

But the people in the camp had the opposite reaction.

These people spontaneously knelt down and even kowtowed to worship the Ming army hot air balloon that had given them a bad breath!

They all knew in their hearts that this was the master's magical method.

And these people are sincerely grateful that someone can take this bad breath for themselves who are drowning in the nightmare!

"It's the master's method! A magic weapon that can carry people into the sky!"

"Yes! Everyone who has seen the National Master praying for rain says so!"

"What are those things flying so high in the sky other than gods?"

"National Master, please come and save us as soon as possible!"

Of course the White Lotus rebels saw this scene, but when they wanted to raise the butcher knife, they all hesitated.

They fear retribution that will literally befall them.

Even before the decisive battle began, the morale of the White Lotus rebels had already suffered a heavy blow.

Tian Tianyu was guarded by black-armored soldiers and walked out of the fire and ruins on horseback. He looked bitterly at the cluster of Ming hot-air balloons where only a string of shadows could be seen in the distance, and shouted loudly.

"Gather all the troops and prepare to march!"

——————

Just when the pilots of the Ming Army's Eagle Guard were showing off their prowess, facing the cold wind in the morning, Ding Xiaohong and others also guided hundreds of small boats from the Ming Army's inland water division under Chen Xuan through a place with only a handful of locals. The secret channel that only the water bandits knew about turned into the vast misty Taihu Lake.

These more than a hundred small boats formed a long snake formation, sailing in the reed swamps, carefully avoiding any possible risk of exposure.

In this era of water warfare, although cannons and gun carriages were moved onto ships, the method was still relatively primitive. What determined the outcome of the battle was still the size of the ship. Larger ships had higher heights and stronger collision angles. , even if it is a jumping battle, it means that more melee soldiers can be accommodated.

Because the Wusong River and other waterways were blocked by the White Lotus Sect's "Navy Division" composed of local water bandit gangs with a large number of sunken ships, the Ming army's sterns and fighting ships could not sail in at all, and they could only enter these small boats.

These small boats are similar to fishing boats. They can capsize upon collision and have no ability to protect themselves at all.

Moreover, these boats also carried large quantities of saltpeter.

The heavy rain that lasted for nearly a month had just ended, and the weather in Suzhou Prefecture was relatively cold at this time. In addition, their task was to block the dock channel with ships and saltpeter that could turn into ice, so they did not have too many sailors.

"Do you think the method of the National Master is reliable?"

The sailor (water bandit) next to Ding Xiaohong couldn't help but ask.

Since Ding Xiaohong's identity has been made public, he doesn't worry about hiding anything anymore. He held a reed pole in his mouth and said with a smile.

"Don't you know this? The dignitaries in Nanjing City use this thing to make ice every summer!"

The sailor secretly smacked his tongue and could only sigh that the life of a powerful person was unimaginable.

Just when he was about to say something, Ding Xiaohong suddenly covered his mouth.

"etc!"

The leading ship stopped, and the ships in the long fleet also stopped one after another, hiding in the reeds and not daring to move.

"This is?"

Ding Xiaohong looked into the distance through the gaps in the reeds in surprise.

On the distant Taihu Lake, a large fleet consisting of hundreds of ships is sailing towards the Wusong River without any disguise!

The main force inside is the ships under the banner of the Qinglong Gang, and they even have some ultra-small warships!

A chill poured from the soles of Ding Xiaohong's feet to the top of his head.

He instantly realized what the White Lotus Sect was going to do.

The Ming army had a small number of troops. In order to prepare for the decisive battle, the sailors deployed in Chen Xuan's river navy and usually used for hand-to-hand combat would definitely go ashore to participate in the decisive battle.

This means that the slightly remote water fortress deployed by the Ming army must be extremely empty.

After all, the frontal front is the most important, it determines the outcome of the battle, and the Ming army will definitely go all out.

As the Wusong River was blocked by a sunken ship, perhaps no one would think that the White Lotus Church sent a fleet with soldiers to go around and launch a sneak attack!

There are many people in the White Lotus Sect, and there are more water bandits of all kinds in Taihu Lake. Their plan is to attack the Ming Army's water stronghold through the same road that Ding Xiaohong came from, then land in the back and attack the Ming Army's main camp from behind!

These ships are all medium and large fishing boats, or ultra-small warships!

"what to do?"

Big beads of sweat flowed from Ding Xiaohong's forehead.

Should he guide the fleet to carry out the scheduled tasks assigned to him by the national division to block the wharf of the White Lotus Sect? Or should he fight against the weak saltpeter fleet and stop the sneak attack fleet led by the Qinglong Gang? Or should he find a way to Send the information back?

PS: [Important reminder (there is no charge for this content)] Chapters 316 to 356 are about the rectification of officialdom and the suppression of rebellions in Jiangnan. They do not contain any theoretical knowledge. They are all practical content. If you are not interested, you can jump directly to Chapter 366. "Class" will contain theoretical knowledge content from now on.